What is Loving-Kindness? How do you know it and practice it in your life?

[xidaijena]

Hi all, these days, I am interested in the articles about the meaning of Loving-Kindness and how to be graceful.

I search the information on Google. So, I share them here and hope you can also share your opinions to discuss them.

Here we go now:

Loving-Kindness

What is lacking in the world today is loving-kindness or goodwill.

In the world today, there is sufficient material wealth. There are very advanced intellectuals, brilliant writers, talented speaker, philosophers, psychologists, scientists, religious advisors, wonderful poets and powerful world leaders. In spite of these intellectuals, there is no real peace and security in the world today. Something must be lacking. What is lacking is loving-kindness or goodwill amongst mankind.

Material gain in itself can never bring lasting happiness and peace. Peace must first be established in man's own heart before he can bring peace to others and to the world at large. The real way to achieve peace is to follow the advice given by religious teachers.

In order to practise loving-kindness, one must first practise the Noble Principle of non-violence and must always be ready to overcome selfishness and to show the correct path to others. The fighting is not to be done with the physical body, because the wickedness of man is not in his body but in his mind. Non-violence is a more effective weapon to fight against evil than retaliation. The very nature of retaliation is to increase wickedness.

In order to practise loving-kindness, one must also be free from selfishness. Much of the love in this world of self-centered, only a love of one is own self:

'Not out of love for the husband loved; but the husband is loved for love of self. Children are loved by the parents, not out of love for the children, but for love of self. The gods are loved, not out of love for the gods, but for love for self. Not out of love is anybody loved, but for love of self are loved.'

Man should learn how to practise selfless love to maintain real peace and his own salvation. Just as suicide kills physically, selfishness kills spiritual progress. Loving-kindness in Buddhism is neither emotional or selfish. It is loving-kindness that radiates through the purified mind after eradicating hatred, jealousy, cruelty, enmity and grudges. According to the Buddha, Metta _ Loving-kindness is the most effective method to maintain purity of mind and to purify the mentally polluted atmosphere.

The word 'love' is used to cover a very wide range of emotions human beings experience. Emphasis on the base animal lust of one sex for another has much debased the concept of a feeling of amity towards another being. According to Buddhism, there are many types of emotions, all of which come under the general term 'love' First of all, there is selfish love and there is selfless love. One has selfish love when one is concerned only with the satisfaction to be derived for oneself without any consideration for the partner's needs or feelings. Jealousy is usually a symptom of selfish love. Selfless love, on the other hand, is felt when one person surrenders his whole being for the good of another _parents feel such love for their children. Usually human beings feel a mixture of both selfless and selfish love in their relationships with each other. For example, while parents make enormous sacrifices for their children, they usually expect something in return.

Another kind of love, but closely related to the above, is brotherly love or the love between friends. In a sense, this kind of love can also be considered selfish because the love is limited to particular people and does not encompass others. In another category we have sexual love, where partners are drawn towards each other through physical attraction. It is the kind that is most exploited by modern entertainment and it can cover anything from uncomplicated teenage infatuations to the most complex of relationships between adults.

On a scale far higher than these, is Universal Love or Metta. This all-embracing love is the great virtue expressed by the Buddha. Lord Buddha, for example, renounce His kingdom, family and pleasures so that He could strive to find a way to release mankind from an existence of suffering. In order to gain His Enlightenment, he had to struggle for many countless lives. A lesser being would have been disheartened, but not the Buddha-elect. It is for this He is called 'The Compassionate One'. The Buddha's boundless love extended not only to human beings but all living creatures. It was not emotional or selfish, but a love without frontiers, without discrimination. Unlike the other kinds of love, Universal love can never end in disappointment or frustration because it expects no reward. It creates more happiness and satisfaction. One who cultivates universal love will also cultivate sympathetic joy and equanimity and he will then have attained to the sublime state.

In this book, The Buddha's Ancient Path Ven. Piyadassi says:

'Love is an active force. Every act of the loving one is done with the stainless mind to help, to succor, to cheer, to make the paths of others easier, smoother and more adapted to the conquest of sorrow, the winning of the highest bliss.

'The way to develop love is through thinking out the evils of hate, and the advantages of non-hate; through thinking out according to actuality, according to karma, that really there is none to hate, that hate is a foolish way of feeling which breeds more and more darkness, that obstructs right understanding. Hate restricts; love release. Hatred strangles; love enfranchises. Hatred brings remorse; love brings peace. Hatred agitates; love quietens, stills, calms. Hatred divides; love unites. Hatred hardens; love softens. Hatred hinders; love helps. And thus through a correct study and appreciation of the effects of hatred and the benefits of love, should one develop love.'

In Metta Sutta, the Buddha has expounded the nature of love in Buddhism. 'Just as a mother would protect her only child even at the risk of her own life, even so, let him cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings. Let his thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world, above, below and across without any obstruction, without any hatred, without any enmity.'


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Real Charity

You perform real charity if you can give freely without expecting anything in return.

The essence of true charity is to give something without expecting anything in return for the gift. If a person expects some material benefit to arise from his gift, he is only performing an act of bartering and not charity. A charitable person should not make other people feel indebted to him or use charity as a way of exercising control over them. He should not even expect others to be grateful, for most people are forgetful though not necessarily ungrateful. The act of true charity is wholesome, has no strings attached, and leaves both the giver and the recipient free.

The meritorious deed of charity is highly praised by every religion. Those who have enough to maintain themselves should think of others and extend their generosity deserving cases. Among people who practise charity, there are some who give as a means of attracting others into their religion or creed. Such an act of giving which is performed with the ulterior motive of conversion cannot really be said to be true charity.

The Buddhism views charity as an act to reduce personal greed which is an unwholesome mental state which hinders spiritual progress. A person who is on his way to spiritual growth must try to reduce his own selfishness and his strong desire for acquiring more and more. He should reduce his strong attachment to possessions which, if he is not mindful, can enslave him to greed. What he owns or has should instead be used for the benefit and happiness of others: his loved ones as well as those who need his help.

When giving, a person should not perform charity as an act of his body alone, but with his heart and mind as well. There must be joy in every act of giving. A distinction can be made between giving as a normal act of generosity and dana. In the normal act of generosity a person gives out of compassion and kindness when he realizes that someone else is in need of help, and he is in the position to offer the help. When a person performs dana, he gives as a means of cultivating charity as a virtue and of reducing his own selfishness and craving. He exercises wisdom when he recalls that dana is a very important quality to be practised by every Buddhist, and is the first perfection (paramita)practised by the Buddha in many of His previous births in search for Enlightenment. A person performs dana in appreciation of the great qualities and virtues of the Triple Gem.

There are many things which a person can give. He can give material things: food for the hungry, and money and clothes to the poor. He can also give his knowledge, skill, time, energy or effort to projects that can benefit others. He can provide a sympathetic ear and good counsel to a friend in trouble. He can restrain himself from killing other beings, and by so doing perform a gift of life to the helpless beings which would have otherwise been killed. He can also give a part of his body for the sake of others, such as donating his blood, eyes, kidney, etc. Some who seek to practise this virtue or are moved by great compassion or concern for others may also be prepared to sacrifice their own lives. In His previous births, the Bodhisatta had many a time given away parts of His body for the sake of others. He had also given up His life so that others might live, so great was His generosity and compassion.

But the greatest testimony to the Buddha's great compassion is His priceless gift to humanity?the Dhamma which can liberate all beings from suffering. To the Buddhist, the highest gift of all is the gift of Dhamma. This gift has great powers to change a life. When a person receives Dhamma with a pure mind and practices the Truth with earnestness, he cannot fail to change. He will experience greater happiness, peace and joy in his heart and mind. If he was once cruel, he becomes compassionate. If he was once revengeful, he becomes forgiving. Through Dhamma, the hateful becomes more compassionate, the greedy more generous, and the restless more serene. When a person has tasted Dhamma, not only will be experience happiness here and now, but also happiness in the lives hereafter as he journeys to Nibbana.


Source: https://www.budsas.org/ebud/whatbudbeliev/168.htm

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So, my question is: What is your opinion about Loving- Kindness and Goodwill? What is the difference between them?

You have goodwill or Loving-Kindness? Why?

Let's discuss this together. I will also share my opinions.

[xidaijena]

Guide Xuefeng wrote an article about LOVE. I translated it and like it very much.

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爱是一种状态


Love is A State of Being

Xuefeng

(Translated by Xidai and Edited by Kaer)

自古以来，“我爱你”是一首千古不变的动听乐曲，人们因听到“我爱你”而迷醉，而迷恋，而美哉乐哉，而发狂。今天，我终于发现，“我爱你”是一种幻觉，是变幻莫测的云霞，是昙花一现有七彩光环的美丽泡沫，是一剂麻 醉剂。

From ancient times, “I love you” has been a beautiful song which has been unchanged throughout the ages. People become fascinated, infatuated, and enjoyed crazy bliss when hearing, “I love you”. Today, I finally know that “I love you” is a hallucination, the unpredictable clouds, a colorful bubble, and an anesthetic.

　 爱是一种状态，就像太阳不停地放射光芒，就像盛开的牡丹绽放娇艳，犹如江河日夜奔腾不息，宛若璀璨的星辰在夜空中闪烁着明亮的光华。

Love is a state, like the constantly shining sun, the blooming peony, the roaring river, and the bright stars twinkling in the night sky with all their luster.

爱没有具体的对象，爱本身无言，爱若有所爱的对象，它就不是爱。太阳永恒地散发着光芒照射万物，太阳一旦有照射的对象，它就不是太阳，而是探照灯，或是手电筒，或是聚光灯。爱如放射光芒的太阳，爱如盛开的鲜花，它 是一种状态，太阳并没说“我爱你！”鲜花并没有说“我爱你！”不管是否有人欣赏，不管是否有蜜蜂蝴蝶来采蜜，鲜花总是适时地绽放。

Love has no specific target, it is wordless, but if there are specific targets, it is not love. The sun shines down constantly on everything, but if there is a target, it is not the sun, but a searchlight, a torch, or a spotlight. Love is like the shining sun and the blooming flowers. It is a state. Neither the sun nor the flowers ever say “I love you”. No matter whether anyone is watching and no matter whether the bees and butterflies come to gather nectar, the flowers always bloom on time.

爱带给人和其他生命和其他事物的永远是温暖、祥瑞、和睦、美善、幸福、正面能量和无限神往，爱从不给人、其他生命、其他事物带来寒冷、躁乱、丑恶、烦恼、痛苦、负面能量和绝望。


Love always brings warmth, auspiciousness, harmony, goodness, happiness, and positive energy, and is infinitely fascinating to all living beings. Love never shows coldness, madness, ugliness, worry, suffering, negative energy, or desperation.

爱不会使人受伤，如果爱让人受伤，让人惆怅，让人烦恼，让人痛苦，让人生恨，让人失望和绝望，它肯定不是爱。

对爱，只能用爱感受，无法用命令和强制的方式获取，也无法用金钱、地位、名誉、美色去换取，爱是无偿的，爱是无价的，爱是不需要回报的，爱是全然奉献而不附加任何债务、责任、义务等条件要求的。爱对叫花子和亿万富 翁持同样的态度，爱对国王和普通老百姓一样对待。爱没有道德观念，爱没有价值体系，爱不分真假、善恶、美丑和对错。

Love cannot hurt anyone. If love leads to pain, grief, suffering, hatred, disappointment, or desperation, it can not be real love.

Love can only be felt by love. It cannot be demanded or taken by force, nor by money, status, fame, or beauty. Love is totally free, it is priceless, needs nothing in return, and is unconditional, with neither responsibilities, obligations, nor other requirements. Love treats everyone the same: beggars and billionaires, commoners and royalty. Love has no morals. Love has no system of values. Love lives in truth, kindness, beauty, and right, as well as in falseness, evil, ugliness, and wrong.

生命之间的差异关键在于其拥有的爱含量，爱含量越高，其生命的层次越高；爱含量越低，其生命的层次越低，这就像煤油灯、电灯、太阳的差异一样，它们所散发的光芒是不一样的。煤油灯只能照亮一间屋子，电灯能照亮一片 场地，而太阳能照亮一方太空。

The differences in the levels of love between different living beings are in the contents of love’s energy. The more love a living being has, the higher its level is; the less love it has, the lower its level is. This is the same as the differences of kerosene lamps, electric lamps, and the sun. They are shining different lights. The kerosene lamp can only illuminate one room in a house and the electric lamp can illuminate a yard, but the sun can illuminate a much larger area.

佛光普照，但人光只能照有限的领域，这就是佛和人的差异。
　　　 由此我们知道，爱天下的，那是佛，为天下大众谋福利的，那是佛。只爱自己，只为自己着想的，那是魔。只爱一个人或某几个人，只为某一个人或某几个人谋福利的，那是动物。只爱一群人，只为某一群人服务的 ，那是人。

The light of the Buddha can spread everywhere, but the light of human beings can only spread in limited regions. This is the difference between Buddhas and people.

So, we understand that those who love everything and live for the benefit of all living beings are Buddhas, those who only love and think about themselves are devils, those who love and live for only one person or several people are animals, and those who only love and live for a group of people are human beings.

由此可知，一个自私自利只爱自己的人，他或她实际上就是魔子魔孙，只有一个爱的对象的，比如夫妻和一对一情爱性爱关系的，实际上就是最低等动物。只爱自己家庭成员和亲属的，是最低层次的人。只爱自己的民族、宗教、 团体、政党、国家而不爱其他民族、宗教、团体、政党、国家的，属于人。而一个尽性、尽力、尽意为全体人类谋福利而毫不为自己谋利益的，他或她肯定不是人，而是菩萨、天使、佛。


According to this, we know that those who selfishly love themselves are the offsprings of devils, those who only love one person or thing, such as within monogamous marriage, are the lowest level of animals, those who love their families are the lowest level of human beings, and those who love their own nations, religions, organizations, and political parties are human beings, but those who live for the benefit of all living beings regardless of their own interests are more than human beings, they are Bodhisattvas, Angels, and Buddhas.

人，实际上是不配说爱的，爱是菩萨、天使、佛的专利。当一个人对另一个人说“我爱你”的时候，是在亵渎爱。

Human beings are not worthy of speaking the word, “love”. Love is the patent of Bodhisattvas, Angels, and Buddhas. Love is profaned when one person says “I love you” to another.

爱是一种反物质存在，唯有自身具备爱，才能感受到爱，自身不具备爱，永远感受不到爱。只有自己有眼睛，才能看到其他生命的眼睛，只有自己不色盲，才能看到大千世界的五彩缤纷。

You will never feel love if you do not have love within yourself. Only if you have eyes can you see the eyes of other LIVES.Only if you are not color-blind, can you see how colorful the world is.

至爱者升华为天仙。所谓至爱，就是自己全然变成了爱。
　　上帝就是爱，我们唯有使自己变成爱，才有资格前往上帝的后花园——仙岛群岛洲。

Those people with the greatest love will become Super Celestial Beings. The greatest love is that you, yourself, completely become love.

The Greatest Creator is love. Only by making ourselves become love can we enter the secret garden of the Greatest Creator, the Celestial Island Continent of the Elysium World.

September 26, 2012


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When I was young, it was very easy for me to say I LOVE YOU.
But now, it is difficlut for me to say I LIKE YOU.

[Ioneo]

Loving-Kindness is giving one's positive energy to other beings without expecting or even desiring anything in return. Goodwill is a positive attitude and can put Loving-Kindness into action. All things positive contain Love.

That is how I perceive them at this time.

[xidaijena]

Posted by Ioneo (here)
Loving-Kindness is giving one's positive energy to other beings without expecting or even desiring anything in return. Goodwill is a positive attitude and can put Loving-Kindness into action. All things positive contain Love.

That is how I perceive them at this time.

Well said, dear!

You are from Japan? I admire Japan now. One of my customers is Japanese but runs company in USA. He is so nice and dedicated. From him, I learn a lot about rigorous thinking.

[Ioneo]

Yes, I've lived in Japan for a long time. I respect their work ethic, respect for others, and honesty. It is surely lacking in most countries nowadays.

[Tyy1907]

I ask Source Creator to raise me up every day to feel, be open to and express Divine Love in all I do. That simple. After that I automatically just am nice to people. It's hard to explain really, my day just goes better in every way.

[betoobig]

Love and kidness is our natural state of being. How do you practice it? Allowing yourself to be what you truly are. Not only knowing what you truly are but emboding it. Then you know what others are aswell making loving them and being kind is much more easy. Btw being yourself should be effortless and fun too...
Much love

[xidaijena]

Posted by Ioneo (here)
Yes, I've lived in Japan for a long time. I respect their work ethic, respect for others, and honesty. It is surely lacking in most countries nowadays.

Indeed.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Posted by Tyy1907 (here)
I ask Source Creator to raise me up every day to feel, be open to and express Divine Love in all I do. That simple. After that I automatically just am nice to people. It's hard to explain really, my day just goes better in every way.

I believe what you say. Me too.

[xidaijena]

Posted by betoobig (here)
Love and kidness is our natural state of being. How do you practice it? Allowing yourself to be what you truly are. Not only knowing what you truly are but emboding it. Then you know what others are aswell making loving them and being kind is much more easy. Btw being yourself should be effortless and fun too...
Much love

Thanks for your reply, but to me, it is really very difficult to be who I truly am. Just share four articles written by Xuefeng here:

寻找真正的自己（1）

Looking for your True Self (I)

Xuefeng
August 5, 2012
(Translated By Transn and Edited by Kaer)

每个人问一下自己，“我到底是谁？”
　　　 一个人能够自己掌控的东西到底有多少？百分之百？百分之五十？百分之一？毫无疑问，能够百分之百掌控自己一切的人一个也没有，一个人若能掌控自己习惯、爱好、行为、语言的百分之十，就已经了不起了。
　　　 人有18个自己无法掌控管理的内容，比如身高、长相、种族、肤色、环境、时代、出生年月日、出生地点、父母、死亡等等，这一切早已确定好了，人面对这些内容是无能为力的。那么，人的习惯、习性、爱好、嗜好、行为、 话语等等是否完全由自己掌控呢？


Who are you and how much of your life do you control: all of it, some of it, any of it? Needless to say, no one can control their lives absolutely. If a person can control just one tenth of their habits, hobbies, behaviours, and words, then they are quite extraordinary.



Eighteen things are beyond people’s control, including their height, appearance, race, ethnicity, environment, era, birth date, birth place, parents, death, and so on. All these things are predestined and no one can do anything about any of them, but what about our habits, usual practices, hobbies, behaviours, words, and so on? Are these self-controllable? Let us look at two specific examples:

我们来看看两个特殊的例子。
　　　 据《世界未解之谜》报道，美国俄亥俄州有一对从小就被分开的孪生子，他们分别39年后又相遇，相遇时两人发现彼此都受过法律教育，同样爱好机械制图和木工制作，更令人称奇的是，两人的前妻同名，儿子同名，甚至续弦 妻子的名字也相同。除此之外，两人都喜欢去佛罗里达州的彼得堡度假。



· As reported in The World of Unsolved Secrets, a pair of paternal twin brothers were separated from an early age in Ohio, the United States. They meet again after being separated for thirty-nine years only to discover that they both had received legal education and were keen on mechanical drawing and carpentry. Even more surprisingly, their ex-wives had the same first names, as did their their sons, and even their second wives. In addition, both of them vacationed often in Saint Petersburg, Florida.
有一对从小被分开的孪生姐妹，十几年后两人相约，并约好在车站见面，其中一位临时决定去剪发，见面时，她吃了一惊，想不到姐姐也同样剪了短发。两人还穿着同样的上装，同样的裙子，同样的皮鞋，提着同样的手提包。这 使她俩都惊愕不已。



· A pair of paternal twin sisters had been separated since childhood for more than ten years. They agreed to meet at a train station and one sister temporarily decided to get a hairdo. When they met, she was taken aback, because her sister had also gotten a hairdo. They also wore identical jackets, skirts, shoes, and carried identical purses. Both of them were utterly amazed.
我们分析一下，孪生兄弟或姐妹的习惯、爱好、行为、长相等几乎都一样，当他们从小被分开而不知道自己还有一个孪生兄弟或姐妹时，他们的一切被看作是个体行为，认为自己的习惯爱好等是自己掌控的，但当他们与自己的孪 生兄弟或姐妹相遇时发现，自己的一切与孪生兄弟或姐妹几乎一样，如此，问题来了，原先作为个体所具备的习惯和爱好及行为被认为完全是自己所决定的，但最后发现这一切不是由自己的意志决定的，而是被一种看不见的意识 所控制的，不要说自己的习惯爱好不是自己决定的，甚至连妻子的名字和孩子的名字都是早已安排好的，是注定的。

孪生兄弟和姐妹是如此，那么，我们其他人呢？我们的习惯和爱好等完全是由自己决定的吗？




We can draw conclusions about these. Both pairs of siblings had almost identical habits, hobbies, behaviour, and appearances, though they had been separated from early ages. When they did not know that they had twins, everything about them was taken as individual preferences; they had all believed that they controlled their own habits and hobbies until they found that their twins were almost exactly the same. Everything that they believed to be self-determined turned out of to be from invisible consciousnesses rather than their own wills; the habits, hobbies, even the names of their wives and sons had been pre-arranged and predestined.


These cases represent identical twins, but what about the rest of us? What habits and hobbies do we choose for ourselves?

答案是：不是！我们的习性、习惯、爱好、嗜好、行为、话语等不是自己决定的，而是被神秘的意识所控制的。
　　　 那么，这个神秘的意识是谁？
　　　 这个神秘的意识才是真正的自己。
　　　 我们平常所认识的自己不是真正的自己，那是假的，真正的自己就是藏在表象后面控制自己一切的神秘意识，那才是真正的自己。

这就像某女子的丈夫在战争中牺牲了，噩耗传来，该女子表现给众人的是极度悲伤而嚎啕大哭，但她真正的自己却在喜极而泣，“终于获得自由了！”
　　　 　　　

The answer is NONE! Our Habits, practices, hobbies, interests, behaviours, and choice of words are not our own decisions, but controlled by mysterious consciousnesses.



What are these mysterious consciousnesses? They are our true selves. The selves that we believe we are, are not our true selves but false ones, and our true ones are the mysterious consciousnesses that control our hidden ones behind our appearances. Case in point: a woman's husband was killed in a war; when the bad news came, she grieved and wailed sadly, but her true self cried with joy, “Finally I'm free!”.

十个人中，九个人是假的。所以，我们所面对的几乎都是假人，假人们的一切都是言不由衷的，是虚伪的。
　　　 人，会经常处在矛盾之中，这个矛盾是由真假自己导致的，假的自己更多的是为了迎合时代、迎合大众、迎合他人而装出来的，真正的自己与时代、大众、他人无关，那就是如来。

Nine people out of ten are pretentious. So, most of the people we face are false, do not talk sincerely, and are hypocrites. We often face cognitive dissonance when our true selves conflict with our false ones. Our false selves tend to be pretentious, to cater to the times, the public, and others; our true selves have nothing to do with them, and that is Tathagata.
如何找到真正的自己呢？请看《寻找真正的自己（二）》。
　
How does one find their true self?

Continue to “Looking for your True Self (II)”.

　　 2012/8/5

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寻找真正的自己（2）

Looking for your True Self (II)

Xuefeng

August 5, 2012
(Translated by Treasure and Edited by Kaer)


在现实生活中，我们都扮演着剧情规定的角色，比如政府公务员，法官、警察、商人、教师、窃贼、流氓等等，这种角色都不是自己，而是每个人在无意识中严格按照剧情有意识的需要被安排了，所以，如果有人问“你是谁？” 如果回答“我是机械工程师，”回答是错误的。


In our real lives, we all play roles defined by our plots, such as government civil servants, judges, police officers, businessmen, teachers, thieves, hooligans, and so on. These are not our true selves, but unconscious roles that have been arranged precisely for everyone according to the conscious needs of the plot, so if someone were to ask who you are and you answered that you are a mechanical engineer, that would be wrong.

看着镜子，你看见了自己吗？如果你看见了，肯定错，因为诸相非相，以色无法见到自己。镜中的你根本不是真正的自己，那全是假象。对照一下8岁时的自己和18岁48岁时的自己，他们完全不同，为什么不同？因为那是假 象，假象是随时随地幻化的，那不是真正的自己。


Look into a mirror. Do you see yourself? The image that you see has to be wrong because all forms are seen inaccurately; you cannot see yourself by the image of your form. The one in the mirror is not your true self at all, but only a false representation. Compare your images at the ages of eight, eighteen, and forty-eight. They are completely different because they are all illusions; none of them are really you.
放眼看看这个世界上的人们，有的在那里慷慨陈词，有的在那里紧握钢枪，有的在那里拍摄电影，有的在那里高歌舞蹈，有的在那里办公，有的在那里打架吵嘴，有的在那里抓小偷，有的在那里兜售商品，有的在那里讲经说法， 这一切都是在演戏，其中的每一个人都不是真正的自己，几乎都是编好了程序按照程序运动的生物机器人。

Look at the people around you; some are giving impassioned speeches, holding guns tightly, making films, singing and dancing, handling official business, fighting and quarreling, catching thieves, selling goods, and some are preaching. All are just acting and role-playing; none are their true selves but most are biological robots who are running according to their programmed procedures.
真正的自己是完全自由的，当你感觉不自由时，你就不是你真正的自己。你必须按时上班去挣钱，你必须做生意赚钱，你必须当警察抓坏蛋，你必须按照上级指示做好工作，你必须考虑父母的赡养和子女们的抚养，你必须买房子 车子必须结婚成家生孩子，你选择什么必须考虑亲属和周围人们对你的要求和评价，你做事说话必须考虑传统的道德伦理和习俗要求，总之，你不能做你自己，你得考虑与你相关的人们对你的期盼、要求和约束，你得考虑传统的 大家都接受的文化价值观和习俗。你本来想这样，但实际是，你必须那样，你不那样，你自己首先受不了内心的愧疚和煎熬，你得生气，你得愤怒，你得装模作样，你得道貌岸然，你得说许多违心的话，做许多违心的事，否则， 你的吃穿住行生老病死就会马上面临问题，所以，你一直以来活的不是真正的自己，而是按照社会剧情设计好的程序扮演不得不扮演的角色。

Your true self is completely free. When you feel unfree, you are not your real self. You have to go to work on time to make a living, do business to make money, be a police officer to catch bad guys, or do your job according to your superiors. Then, you have to maintain the support of your parents, buy a house and a car, get married, and have children. When you make choices, you have to consider the wishes of your family and others around you and you have to remember traditional ethics and customs. Ultimately, you can never be your true self. You have to consider the expectations, demands, and constraints of the people around you as well as the cultural values and customs that society adheres to. You want to go one way but you have to choose another. If you do not, then you will have too bare guilt and pain within your heart, be angry, assume a feigned manner, pose as a person with high morals, and say words and do things against your will or worse, you will face immediate problems with your food, clothing, shelter, transportation, birth, illness, and death. So, you would not have been living out your true self, but only playing the role that you have to play according to the program which has been designed as a social plot.

你内心想这样，但偏偏还要那样，没有自由，因为你被套进了程序，编进了剧情，牛被赶进了牛棚，猪被赶进了猪圈，你被赶进了人圈，只好挖洞的挖洞，飞翔的飞翔，吃草的吃草，吃肉的吃肉，难逃三界，只能受 五行束缚。

剧本要求百分之九十九的人不能知道真相，因为一旦知道真相，剧本就无法上演。今天看一则新闻，某民工外出打工，妻子在家红杏出墙生一孩子，该民工不知真情，将孩子抚养到23岁，孩子长大越来越不像自己，所以做亲子 鉴定，鉴定结果，孩子不是亲生，民工陷入了痛苦烦恼的漩涡。本来其乐融融，一旦知道真情，喜剧变为悲剧。古希腊神话传说中的俄狄浦斯王，稀里糊涂地娶了自己的母亲为王后，若不知真情，可以享受天伦之乐，但后来知道 了真情，王后羞愤自尽，俄狄浦斯刺瞎自己双眼，自我放逐。

You want to be free in your heart but you must live within constraints because you are trapped within the program; put into the plot. Cattle are driven into sheds, pigs are driven into pens, and people are driven into circles of other people. Those who are supposed to dig holes, dig them; supposed to fly, fly; supposed to be herbivores, graze on grass; supposed to be carnivores, eat meat. All are hard-pressed to escape from the bonds of the Three Realms but can only be bound by the Five Elements. The script requires that ninety-nine percent of the people do not to know the truth because if it were widely known, then the play could not be performed.



A news story reported of a migrant whose wife had affairs at home when he was at work and eventually gave birth to a child. He did not know the truth and raised the child into adulthood, but as the child grew, he developed less and less like him, so he had a paternity test run. The DNA test result proved that the child was not his and threw him into a whirlpool of pain and trouble. Once the truth was known, a comedy became a tragedy. King Oedipus in ancient Greek mythology and legend married his own mother unknowingly and innocently, and took her as his queen. Had he not learned the truth, he might have enjoyed his warm family, but when they learned it, the queen killed herself out of shame while Oedipus blinded himself and went into exile.
一旦知道真相，后果可怕。你极力维护的，若恰恰是你应当摧毁的；你极力破坏的，若恰恰是应当感激的，怎么办？此时内心的痛苦即使把肠子悔青也无济于事，一头猪，若知道自己被圈养最终将被宰杀，一天也活不下去。若人 类中的百分之九十九的人知道真正的自己是谁，整个社会体系和秩序将会崩溃，人间就将不是人间了。
　　　 那么，如何寻找到真正的自己？请看《寻找真正的自己（三）》。
　　　
Once a truth is learned, its consequences can be terrible. What would you do if you learned that you had protected something that you should have destroyed or that you had tried to ruin something that you should have been grateful for? It would be useless at that moment, even if the pain and repentance broke your heart. A pig could not live for even a day if it knew that the reason it was bred in captivity was to be slaughtered for food. If ninety-nine percent of humans knew who they really were, then our whole social system and order would collapse and the human world as we know it would no longer exist.

How do we find our true selves?

Continue to “Looking for your True Self (III)”.

2012/8/5


寻找真正的自己（3）

Looking for your True Self (III)
Xuefeng
August 6, 2012
(Translated by Treasure and Edited by Kaer)


看过电影电视剧吧？电视剧中某演员叫某人“妈”或“爸”，是真的“妈”或“爸”吗？当然不是，因为那是在演戏，凡戏中的角色都是假扮的，不是真实的。电视剧中有人在哭泣，她真的很悲伤真得在哭泣吗？电视剧中有人被 打死了，是真的把演员给打死了吗？当然没有。那是装的，并不是真被打死了。
　　　 凡演戏，戏中的一切都是假的，都不是真实的，若是真实的，一场战争戏下来，多少演员要死于战场？其实，一个也没死，都是假装死了。


Have you watched movies or TV shows? Actors call other actors "Mom" and "Dad"; are they really their parents? Of course not! They were acting and none of the roles that they played were real; they were disguised. Someone is crying; are they really sad? Someone is killed; is the actor really dead? No and no; they were fake and everyone is fine. Everything in the play is false and nothing is real; otherwise it would be unimaginable how many actors would die on a battlefield of a war scene. None are actually dead because they are only pretending to be so.


演电影演电视剧是演戏，可现实中，有多少人不是在演戏？明明不爱，却要信誓旦旦地说“我爱你！”明明不喜欢自己的老板，却要满脸堆笑毕恭毕敬地对待他。多少人把美国骂得一塌糊涂一无是处，却想尽办法绞尽脑汁要把自 己的子女弄到美国去。多少人想小三小四想得辗转反侧夜不能眠，却口口声声骂人心不古世风日下把自己打扮成一个卫道士一个道德君子。。。。。。谁不是在演戏？谁不是戏子？谁活出了真实的自己？


其实，每个人不得不演戏。为什么要演戏？生存所迫，或者说，演戏是为了生存，为了活下去。但既然是在演戏，当然一切都不是真实的，是假的。所以，我们看到的人类社会的一切，都是假的，都不是真实的，因 为都在演戏。
　　　
Acting in movies and TV shows is acting, but how many people are acting in real life? People pledge their love to husbands and wives for whom they no longer have feelings, they defer to their bosses with smiles though they hate them inwardly, and they scold the United States viciously but rack their brains to send their children there. People lust after men or women in their sleepless nights but then act as guards of public morality and condemn others for acting on their lust. So who is not acting, who are not actors, and who live out their true selves? The truth is that everyone acts. Why are you acting? Because survival forces you to do so. Acting is a survival skill for living, but since it is all just acting, nothing is real, everything is false. Therefore, everything that we see in human society is false; nothing is real because everyone is acting.


你或许要说一切不是演戏，是真实的，“起码我妈生了我这不是演戏，是真实的。”
我要问“你妈生了你？你确认她就是你妈吗？”“儿子是父亲女儿是妈，”你妈到底是谁？你连自己是谁都不知道，你怎么知道生了你的就是你妈？再说，你有几个妈？从无始劫开始，你生了多少次了？难道每次生的都是你同一 个妈？就没有其他女性生你？万一五百年前生你的妈今生成了你的女儿，那么，是不是说你的女儿曾经生了你？
因此，到底是你妈生了你，还是你女儿生了你，或者是你的那个相好的生了你，很难说清楚，当然，如果我们把一切局限在此生此世，确实是你妈生了你。


You might say, “It is not all acting, some of it is real, my mother gave birth to me; that was not acting, it was real", and I will ask, "Your mother gave birth to you? Are you sure that she is your mother?". " The son had been the father and the daughter had been the mother", so who is your mother? You do not even know who you are, so how can you know that it was your mother who gave birth to you? Besides, how many mothers have you had; how many times have you been born since the beginning of time? Has the same woman given birth to you each time and has no other women ever given birth to you? Maybe the woman who gave birth to you five hundred years ago is your daughter in this life; can you say that your daughter has never given birth to you? Therefore, it is hard to say who has ever given birth to you: your mother, your daughter, or your lover. Of course, if we limit everything to within this life only, then of course it is your current mother who gave birth to you.


当有人指着玛利亚告诉基督耶稣说“你母亲来了”时，耶稣说“谁是我母亲？谁是我的兄弟姐妹？”“遵守我天父旨意的，就是我的兄弟、姊妹和母亲。”大家看看，基督耶稣是真实的，他没在演戏，他活的是真正 的自己。
　　　 真正的自己在哪里？

When someone pointed at Mary and said to Jesus Christ, "Thy mother and thy brother seek for thee", Jesus answered, "Who is my mother or my brother?". "Whoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, my sister, and my mother”. Jesus Christ was real, he was not acting, he was living out his true self.

Where is your true self?

你只要想做人，那就永远找不到真正的自己。永远弄不清自己的庐山真面目。同样，如果你活动的一切目的是为了生存，为了迎合他人、社会、时代和传统观念，也永远找不到自己。还有，如果你心中还有金钱、权力、名誉、美 色，心中还想着出人头地光宗耀祖为国争光，同样找不到真正的自己。只要心有所住心有挂碍，永远找不到真正的自己。只要有欲望，有所求，有嗔恨、有忌妒、有怨气、有恐惧、有担忧，就永远找不到真正的自己 。
　　　 那么，如何才能寻找到真正的自己？请看《寻找真正的自己（四）》
　　　


As long as you want to remain a person, you will never find it or know who you really are. That is, if all your activities are centered around survival, catering to others, your society, your times, and traditional values, and if you still desire money, power, reputation, and sexual satisfaction in your mind and still want to be outstanding, to glorify and illuminate your family name, or to win glory for your homeland, as long as your mind abides “somewhere” or is tied by someone or something, and as long as you still have desire, demand, hatred, jealousy, resentment, fear, worry, and anxiety from within, then you will never find it either.


So, how is the true self to be found?

Continue to “Looking for your True Self (IV)”.

2012/8/6

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寻找真正的自己（4）

Looking for your True Self (IV)
Xuefeng

August 9, 2012
(Translated by Transn and Edited by Kaer)


宇宙是生命的大舞台，宇宙为生命而存，宇宙充满了生命，充满了生机和活力。生命的层次千姿百态千差万别，从低级生命到高级生命，从显形生命到隐形生命，在宇宙这个生命的大舞台上渐次展开尽情演绎，构成了波澜壮阔精 彩纷呈的大千世界。


The universe is the big stage for LIFE, it exists for LIFE, it is full of LIFE, and it is full of vigor and vitality. The levels of LIFE are in various poses and have different expressions from low levels to high ones and both visible ones and invisible ones. All gradually unfold and perform on the big LIFE stage of the universe which constitutes the magnificent and colorful great universe.


从生命的个体到生命的群体，一切都是严格按照比例设计编排的，比如人体的一切，从眼睛多大多少到一共多少骨骼多少手脚长短大小等等都是按比例设计好的，每一个生命在生命的层次和群体中扮演什么角色寿命多长也都是按 照比例和需要设计编排好的，同时，每一种生命群体都有自己种属的生存程序，所有的生命都是在某种程序中生存着，从一种程序中出来，又必须进入另一种程序中，比如动物世界是一种生存程序，人类社会是一种程序，仙界是 又一种程序，人从人类社会程序中出来，必须进入动物世界或仙界程序中运行。

From an individual LIFE to groups of many LIVES, all things are designed and arranged in strict proportions. Take people for example, everything in our bodies is designed in proportion, such as our numbers and sizes of eyes, bones, hands, and feet. The roles and life-spans of each LIFE and each group of LIVES are designed and arranged based on proportions and needs. At the same time, each LIFE group exists in a certain program and belongs to its own species. All LIFE survives in certain programs and will have to enter other ones after they leave their current ones. For instance, the animal world is a LIFE program, human society is another, and the celestial world is still another. When people depart from the human program, they will enter and run in the program of either the animal world or the celestial world.


只要被固定了角色，只要在某种程序中运行，每一个生命都不是真正的自己，因为一切的一切都是被剧本情节确定了，这就像拍摄电视剧，每一个演员都必须按照剧本情节要求扮演剧本中的某一个角色，无论自己有多少的选择和 自由，总体上是按照剧本编排进行，由不得自己。
　　　 真正的自己是完全自由的，是不受任何外力支配的，只要自由意志得不到彰显，只要凡事按照外界的要求去做，只要有什么力量还在制约着自己，那么，活的就不是真正的自己。

As long as one’s role is fixed, as long as they run in a certain program, then none of their LIFE is their true self because everything has been determined by the plot of a script. It is like shooting a TV series; each actor must play a certain role according to the script plot. Even if you have some wiggle room, you will still have to follow the general script. The true self is completely free and is not subject to any outside control. If everything is done based on outside requirements rather than personal free will and is constrained by certain outside powers, then they are not the lives of true selves.


宇宙中，全然的自由是不存在的，除了上帝，没有一个生命会享受全然的自由，但是，自由有程度的不同，自由度越大，越能找到真正的自己，活出真正的自己；自由度越小，越难找到真正的自己，越难活出自己。以猪和人为例 ，猪生活的自由度比人小，它受人的制约和支配，所以猪活不出自由意志，它是为人而活着，所以猪找不到真正的自己，而人的自由度比猪大，所以人相比较猪而言，活的是自己。同样是人，活在婚姻家庭的人相比较活在第二家 园中的人而言，自由度就小，他们只是被动地活着，而在第二家园中的人，逃出了婚姻家庭程序的束缚，逃出了36道八卦阵的许多阵，所以自由度就比较大，越能活出真正的自己。

In the universe, there is no total freedom except for that of the Greatest Creator. No LIFE can enjoy total freedom. There are different degrees of freedom; the greater the degree of freedom is, the easier it is to find one’s true self and live out their true self, and vice versa. Let us consider a pig and a human. Pigs have less freedom than humans and are subject to the restrictions and controls of humans, so pigs cannot live out their free wills. They live for humans and thus can never find their true selves. Humans have more freedom than pigs, so compared to pigs, humans can live out much more of themselves. Actually, humans in general who live in marriages with families have less freedom than those who live in the New Oasis for Life. The former live passively while the later are free from the shackles of marriage and family programs and free from many of the constraints of the thirty-six Mazes of LIFE; thus, they have more freedom and can live out more of their true selves.
越是生命的下界，自由度越小；越是生命的上界，自由度越大。比如植物界、动物界、人间、仙界，植物界生命的自由度比动物界小，动物界生命的自由度比人间小，人间生命的自由度比仙界小。可以说，越靠近地狱，自由度越 小；越靠近天堂，自由度越大。
　　　 所以，要想找到真正的自己，就必须到越加高级的生命空间中去找，到天堂的最高层次中去找，自由度越大，越能找到真正的自己；自由度越小，越难找到真正的自己。


在整个宇宙中，从物质世界到反物质世界，作为生命，能真正找到自己的地方就是极乐界的仙岛群岛洲，因为在那里，生命逃出了所有程序，已不再扮演某个剧本角色，一切由自己决定，自己就是一切的设计者和编排者，就是导 演，且剧本是自己编写的。

Lower LIFE levels have less freedom and higher LIFE levels have more freedom. For instance, each of the Plant World, the Animal World, the Mortal World, and the Celestial Beings world have more freedom than the ones before them. It can be said that the worlds closest to hell have the least freedom but those closest to heaven have the most. Therefore, one has to strive for the higher levels of LIFE space. The highest level is heaven and that is where true selves are. The more freedom there is, the easier it is to find one’s true self; the less freedom, the less true self. In the entire universe from the material world to the nonmaterial world, the most real place to find one’s true LIFE self is on the Celestial Islands Continent of the Elysium World because it is the place where LIFE is free from all programs, is no longer playing a scenario role, and everything is self-decided. There is only the self; the designer, the arranger, the director, and the screenwriter are all the self.
　　　 所以，结论是，要找到真正的自己，就到天国去找。猪是找不到真正的自己的，同理，人是找不到真正的自己的，唯有成天仙，才能找到真正的自己。
　　　 如何成为天仙呢？入道，与道合一，与上帝的意识合一，天人合一，达到自洽，如此，即可找到真正的自己。
　　　


We can thus arrive at the conclusion that one can only find their true self in heaven. Pigs cannot find their true selves as pigs, and similarly humans cannot find their true selves as humans. The only absolute way to find one’s true self is to become a Super Celestial Being.

How does one become a Super Celestial Being?

By following Tao and bringing oneness to Tao and to the consciousness of the Greatest Creator to achieve self-consistency. This is how we find our true selves.

2012/8/9



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Very valuable articles.

[DeDukshyn]

Step 1) Learn how to love yourself honestly and fairly, with conviction.
Step 2) Realize that everyone else is you.

[betoobig]

you clearly overthink...lol.... to be what you truly are is much more simple, effortless and fun than all those words.... what you truly are is an specific frequency to which you can tune yourself,,,, really the big game changer is to blend your ego or intellectual mind with your innerbeing. That´s my work, i help people achive that and it is glorius. TO be fully you, your physical body, intelectual mind or ego and your innerbeing have to go together, aligned if you prefer.....
simple things come from spirit, complicated stuff comes from ego...
Much love

[xidaijena]

Posted by DeDukshyn (here)
Step 1) Learn how to love yourself honestly and fairly, with conviction.
Step 2) Realize that everyone else is you.

Like it!

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Posted by betoobig (here)
you clearly overthink...lol.... to be what you truly are is much more simple, effortless and fun than all those words.... what you truly are is an specific frequency to which you can tune yourself,,,, really the big game changer is to blend your ego or intellectual mind with your innerbeing. That´s my work, i help people achive that and it is glorius. TO be fully you, your physical body, intelectual mind or ego and your innerbeing have to go together, aligned if you prefer.....
simple things come from spirit, complicated stuff comes from ego...
Much love

When I was 20 years old, it was sooo easy for me to say the word LOVE.
But now, I can not speak the word LIKE.

Just listen to a nice song: Birds of Paradise. I knew it in 2011 and sang it a lot. Still loving it soo much.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=HNNTdye9r4k

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=fbYa9-t0dtM

[pyrangello]

I was in walmart the other day, the checkout lady said to me people are so mean . I took some time to brighter her day, to say the world isnt as bad as it may seem and how to deal with negative people. Staying in a place of goodwill, love, and giving can be very challenging in these times of anxiety. Spreading around kindness and that positive energy does go somewhere and the earth does feel that along with your fellow human beings .

[xidaijena]

Posted by pyrangello (here)
I was in walmart the other day, the checkout lady said to me people are so mean . I took some time to brighter her day, to say the world isnt as bad as it may seem and how to deal with negative people. Staying in a place of goodwill, love, and giving can be very challenging in these times of anxiety. Spreading around kindness and that positive energy does go somewhere and the earth does feel that along with your fellow human beings .

Indeed. The world is full of darkness now but we can still be the light.

[xidaijena]

These days, two visitors came to Thailand Branch:







The girl is from England and the man is from Argentina.



And this lady is a new member of us. She is applying to be one of our members and learning Lifechanyuan values. She is from Thailand.





Watch the video of our communities.



I read her application. She is also a good and kind soul, a lady who is not good at making a good living and doesn't like marriage.

May the Greatest Creator bless me and our communities.





I was moved to tear some when seeing him. He is really like a bright light shining in my heart.